


Malignant

by notourmoniker (notyourmoniker)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:42:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25723777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notyourmoniker/pseuds/notourmoniker
Summary: Mary Margaret can feel something growing within her. Something strong and forgotten. Something tied to Regina. Set during the first curse. SnowQueen.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard
Comments: 8
Kudos: 45





	Malignant

School board meetings, coffee shop run ins, even just bumping into each other on their respective walks to work.

Their paths crossed more than Mary Margaret would have expected. After all, she was sure that the mayor didn’t really need to drop by Storybrooke Elementary as frequently as she did. 

They would exchange tense ‘Madame Mayors’ and ‘Miss Blanchards,’ before Regina slipped in some subtle put down, or a far more blatant cruelty. She always seemed to have a barb prepped and ready and aimed for Mary Margaret as soon as she was in sight. A sneer would pass over her face as she spoke, disappearing just as quick under her politician’s smile. 

Brow’s furrowing in thought as she walked, Mary Margaret stuffed her hands into her coat pockets. If Regina was making any attempt to disguise her dislike, it certainly was a poor one. She did wonder though, at what point she had started to notice the obvious provocations and insults for what they were…and at what point had she started to push back against them. 

Because Regina brought out parts of Mary Margaret she couldn’t seem to summon with anyone else. She became braver, bolder, wittier, more confident when they traded slights. 

Though it hadn’t always been that way, lately when they met Mary Margaret’s spine would stiffen, chin jutting out to meet Regina’s digs with one of her own - so different to the timid and kind person she was with everyone else. 

And when she got the courage to speak her mind or land a particularly snide remark, fire roared within her.

So slowly, her life had slipped into a routine of waiting for the next time she and the mayor would meet - her eyes fixing on the door at Granny’s as she took her usual table, or scanning the street as she walked to work. Waiting for when Regina in her attempts at harassment, only coaxed out strength. 

And she craved that feeling. The rush of it. The feel of _danger_.

But recently, Regina seemed less interested in provoking her. The confrontations that usually arose between them had been diminishing, replaced by half hearted abuse and mild exasperation. 

And Mary Margaret did not understand why.

Picking up her pace, she turned the corner toward town hall. Even from a block away it was the clear heart of Storybrooke - white and stately with pillars and arches better befitting a castle than their small town. But Mary Margaret’s gaze was on the sidewalk before her, glowing grey in the early evening light. Her mind raced with all the traps that the mayor might be laying with her sudden change in demeanor. 

Once at the doors though, she rushed inside. Though imposing from the outside, the public meeting room within was plain and boxy and bright. Clean white walls framed in rows of benches placed before an elevated stage set with a long table. Trying to keep her heart rate under control, Mary Margaret scanned the small crowd present for tonight’s city council meeting. 

When her eyes finally landed on Regina, she watched for a moment as she made conversation with a few of Storybrooke’s more prominent residents.

But she must have felt Mary Margaret’s eyes on her, because her focus suddenly shifted, and their eyes met. Tempted to look down - her old cowardice flaring - she forced herself to keep a level gaze. Expecting the mayor to glare or make some other subtle show of displeasure at her presence, Mary Margaret tilted her head, brows creasing, when Regina simply sighed and turned back to her conversation. 

_Perhaps afterward_ , she thought. The mayor was always particularly touchy after anything involving a public forum.

Sitting quietly through talks on construction budgets and new zoning regulations, she kept her focus on Regina. But the mayor didn’t appear to be focusing at all. She didn’t look at the speaker, any of them. Her gaze drifted around the room, never landing definitively on anything, as she held her head in her hand. And though she occasionally jotted something down, she wasn’t taking notes. Mary Margaret swore she could even hear her pen clicking under the table. 

However, when the time came for questions Regina answered all that were directed to her with the fine tuned professionalism of a career politician. And when the meeting adjourned, she stood and exited with the other members of the city council. 

Mary Margaret scrambled to gather her jacket and bag. 

She found Regina near a closet in the back collecting her coat. 

“Madame Mayor.” 

Rather than turning to look at her, Regina bowed her head and shut her eyes - as if Mary Margaret’s voice was the most exhausting sound imaginable. 

Undeterred, she continued. 

“You were less engaged than you normally are, Mayor Mills. I hope everything’s okay.” 

Knowing from experience that Regina detested intrusion - especially of the overly concerned sort, _especially_ when it came from Mary Margaret - she made sure to say it too kindly. If she wasn’t going to initiate provocation, then Mary Margaret would. Anything to make her feel real again and spark that strength. Anything to override her constant compulsion to placate and please. 

Without turning, Regina responded.

“I’m sorry you felt that I wasn’t able to live up to your standards for my position.” 

The apology, though insincere, was unexpected. Mary Margaret wavered slightly.

“It’s just considering all the flack you’ve given me in the past for honoring the expectations of the tax payer…”

This time Regina did look at her. 

“Did you come to this meeting simply to point out my ineptitude-”

“Ineptitude? No, I-” she was flustered. This was not going as she had anticipated. 

“-because if that is the case, maybe you should think about running for office. Doubtful that you would be doing this town a greater disservice as mayor than you are already doing by mishandling the education of Storybrooke’s youth.”

The words were all there, but the dispassionate tone in which they were said threw Mary Margaret off. Her previous concerns about tricks and unspoken antagonism were fast forgotten as a tightness settled in her chest. 

“Mayor Mills I didn’t mean…It’s just that you seemed to care less than usual about the proceedings.” She cringed inwardly at how mollifying she sounded. 

If Regina noticed she made no show of it, but her shoulders slumped slightly when she next spoke. 

“It’s tiresome to care about things that never change.” 

There was meaning lurking in those words that Mary Margret didn’t understand, but the dark circles under the mayor’s eyes and the whiskey on her breath were suddenly apparent now. 

“I’m sure being mayor can be draining, but Storybrooke elected you because we have faith that you’re the best person to run the town, drudgery and all.” 

Regina only laughed. It was that hollow laugh that seemed to whisper at Mary Margaret with secrets she should know but didn’t. 

“And what am I to do with this drudgery?” Regina looked at her gesturing at the space around them.

“Excuse me?” Mary Margaret’s sudden offense was a relief. It made her more sure of her position in this conversation, but also stung in a way that only Regina’s words could have. 

The mayor narrowed her eyes. 

“Don’t think I don’t notice, dear. You and your doe-eyes are always on me, waiting for me to pick a fight with you so you can practice putting on your brave face.” 

Mary Margaret just stood dumbly, mouth opening and closing in surprise. 

“It’s tiring.” Regina said, an intended bite in her words. 

Then, when Mary Margaret found she lacked a response, Regina slid her coat on and left. 

*

That night in bed she replayed the conversation over and over again in her mind. 

She always thought that for everything she got from their encounters, Regina must have gotten something too. Perhaps a fire in her eyes or a sense of meaning in a town that could feel suffocating with unnameable, unplaceable vacancies. Why else would she have instigated conflict between them?

But tonight, what Regina had said made it seem like everything between them was one sided, as if she was merely humoring Mary Margaret.

It was also disconcerting to learn that the mayor was so aware of her. 

_Things that never change._

That was what she’d said, but it seemed to Mary Margaret that so many things had changed. For a start, she didn’t let Regina walk all over her anymore. 

Maybe that was what upset her, she thought bitterly, jaw clenching in the dark. Maybe she didn’t like someone standing up to her for once. If that was the case, Regina was simply going to have to toughen up. Mary Margaret had no intention of going back to being spineless. 

But laying there, staring up at her ceiling, she wasn’t entirely sure that had been the Mayor’s meaning. 

Turning to see the time on her alarm clock, she realized she wouldn’t be able to sleep until she understood what Regina did mean. So, with a sharp nod of her head, Mary Margaret decided that tomorrow she would confront her and find out. 

*

The next day as soon as school let out she made her way back to town hall, this time intending to walk upstairs to the mayor’s office. But when she got there, Regina was not in. 

Taking the steps back down, she turned to head home. But each step felt like its own small defeat. Whatever game they were playing, she was tired of letting Regina rig the rules against her. 

So, before she could think better of it she turned again, this time in the direction of the mayor’s mansion. 

Two quick knocks on the door later, Regina stood before her in a silk robe. She was every bit as surprised and irritated as Mary Margaret could have hoped. 

“Miss Blanchard? Is there something you need?”

Mary Margaret wished she would have practiced saying something on her way over. 

“Yes. I, I wanted to continue our conversation.” 

“Our conversation?”

“From last night.” She straightened her shoulders as she spoke.

The mayor looked at her as deep lines appeared between her brows and at the corners of her mouth. 

“This couldn’t wait until I am in my office?” 

“I went to your office.”

“And when I wasn’t there you thought it would be appropriate to come to my home?”

“Well, it is still during business hours.” She shifted uncomfortably as she realized that this might not be a ‘front porch’ kind of discussion. “Maybe I could come inside?”

Regina laughed haughtily, “I think not.”

“Is there a reason why?”

It was Regina’s turn to look uncomfortable. She glanced over her shoulder, and Mary Margaret realized with a rush of embarrassment and another feeling she couldn’t think to name, that Regina had _company_.   
  
Mary Margaret was suddenly furious. 

“So, I can be reprimanded for the _thousands_ of things you have claimed make me a poor teacher, but the _mayor_ can take a sick day to spend in bed with whoever it is you’re hiding in there?”

Regina should have responded to her fury with some of her own, but she simply sighed as though she hadn’t the slightest inclination to engage in this argument. 

Mary Margaret wanted to slap her for acting like this was just another drain on her time. Never before had their relationship seemed like a unnecessary burden, maybe a slight annoyance sure, but this - 

“I think you should leave, Miss Blanchard.”

She started to close the door, but Mary Margaret caught it and held it open. She silently thrilled at the show of strength. Regina only looked at her, irritated.

“Fine. What is it you want to speak about? Evidently something of importance since you’re here without an invitation and insist on cluttering my porch when I clearly do not desire to speak with you.”

Mary Margaret’s cheeks burned red in anger.

“I just -”

“You what?” The words were loud and carried with them an air of cold humor. “Because I am tired. I am tired of this conversation, of you, of this godforsaken town and its dimwitted inhabitants, and desperately wish to be left alone.”

Mary Margaret’s grip on the door loosened, and it slid a little further shut under her palm. Regina had never lost herself like this, not that she could remember. Even when her words stung and her face contorted with anger there was always a degree of composure behind it. 

“Regina-”

She laughed, and Mary Margaret felt her stomach knot. 

“So I’m Regina now am I, Miss Blanchard? You would be well served to remember your place. Now run along home. I’m positive that whatever you came here for can wait until another day.”

There was that whisper again, telling her that there was a meaning here she was missing.

“You can’t do this.”

“What can’t I do?” Regina all but snarled. 

“This!” Mary Margaret surprised herself with the volume in her voice. “You can’t just keep treating me like this! I’m a real person with real feelings, and you’re continuously going out of your way to make me miserable! And now, _finally_ , I start to stand up for myself and you have the audacity to act like I have been the imposition? I mean really, what is _this_? Why are you so insistent that one of us be unhappy? That _I_ be unhappy?”

As she spoke, every ounce of emotion and exhaustion suddenly left her body to fill the air between them. 

It was so uncharacteristic that Regina’s eyes widened in open surprise.

A tense moment passed, and Mary Margaret let the last bits of anger, frustration, and confusion drip back down her throat. 

Finally, Regina spoke. 

“It’s not as if I enjoy seeing you either Miss Blanchard. If that’s truly how you feel, there’s no need to keep pretending. We may live in the same town, but there’s no rule saying we have to interact.”

At that, Mary Margaret felt a cold tingle of dread, but nonetheless removed her hand from the door and nodded in agreement. 

When it shut, she felt her muscles tense before she turned to walk home. 

*

The next few weeks they barely saw each other. When they did, Regina kept her word and ignored Mary Margaret. There were no more hostile encounters, no more shared incitements, not even even any social niceties. They did not speak, and as the days went on they ran into each other less and less. 

Yet whatever sense of victory she thought this might bring her, Mary Margaret only felt increasingly more miserable. There was an unexpected loneliness at the distance that was suddenly between them.

She connected with so few people in Stroybrooke. Though she was remiss to acknowledge that she and Regina were close, there was only one other person in town who she spoke to regularly. 

And Mary Margaret was unsure that she could fairly count John Doe.

But now, as space worked its way between them, she missed their run ins - missed the way they made her feel. Because she had never been brave or strong or willing to fight for something until Regina drove it out of her. Though she knew that wasn’t the mayor’s intention, it had happened. And without those provocations, Mary Margaret was slipping back into her old diffident self. 

It was frustrating and isolating, and it also wasn’t the only reason she missed engaging with Regina. But she buried her worry and tentative attachment under other concerns. 

That is, until she entered Granny’s one evening to see Regina and Sheriff Graham tucked into one of the back booths. 

A month had passed since their conversation at the mayor’s mansion. 

Immediately, Mary Margaret was tempted to just turn around and walk out. But as she struggled with her desire to flee, Regina noticed her. She started, almost imperceptibly, but Mary Margaret had spent enough time studying this woman to see it. Then she turned back to Graham and leaned further into the arm he had wrapped over her shoulders. 

Mary Margaret felt her body go rigid at the sight. Finding a nearby table,  
she sat heavily, folding her hands tense in front of her. 

The atmosphere around Regina and Graham was odd. Though it was certainly flirtatious, with obvious touches, whispers, and smiles, something about it was decidedly unromantic. 

But Mary Margaret tried not to pay them any attention; even as, through forkfuls of lasagna, her gaze drifted back to see Graham whispering into Regina’s ear while she smiled and batted her lashes. 

It had to be intentional. Regina must be trying to provoke her, to get her to break their agreement. Surely, this _display_ had no other purpose. 

Ignoring that Regina would have no way of knowing that she would be here, and the fact that she had hardly spared a glance in her direction, Mary Margaret fumed. 

And when she saw Graham place his hand on her thigh, fingers running along the hem of her black skirt, she stood with a slap of money on the counter and the ring of the bell on the door as she stormed out. 

That night she paced her apartment, getting more upset each time she thought about it. 

Regina had to be goading her. There had to be an angle in this. Perhaps, she was trying to revert their encounters back to what they had been before Mary Margaret had become braver and more willing to fight back. 

But it seemed so long ago that that could accurately describe their relationship. 

Despite Regina’s insistence that Storybrooke was a place of stagnation, somewhere along the way things between them had changed.

Falling onto her sofa, Mary Margaret ran her hands through her hair. Regina was all she’d been able to think about for days. Since the night of the city council meeting she had been vacillating between anger, concern, and indignation, all revolving around the Mayor. She wanted to - _needed_ \- to care less, to be the kind of person she had been becoming but without Regina in her life.

Her thoughts went back to the way Graham pressed into Regina’s side, how her dark lips curved up at his nearness. 

Sighing deeply and shutting her eyes, she tried to regain control of herself.

It was unfair that of the two of them, she was suffering more. 

Without Regina it felt like she was merely going through the motions, pretending at being everything that had made her who she was. 

And it couldn’t go on, she realized. With a sudden wave of clarity, Mary Margaret knew that she would go insane at this rate. Either way she would be miserable, but with Regina at least it had meaning. As it stood currently, she was lost in a swirl of obsession, intrusive thoughts, and unplaceable tension. It was making her restless and on edge - fingers drumming on the arm of her sofa and biting her lip even as her throat grew tight. 

That meant their deal needed to be broken, and worse, she would need to be the one to break it. The idea was unappealing, and felt in no small part like yet another defeat. 

Grimacing, the image of Graham and Regina flashed through her mind. As with each time before, it came with a jolt of anger and irritation. 

_So be it then_ , she thought. The deal would be broken, but she was going to make damn well sure that Regina knew exactly whose fault that was. 

Mind made up, she stood and went to lie down, hoping that sleep would come quickly and dreamless tonight. 

*

The next morning she set out once again to town hall. Taking long heavy strides, fists clenching beside her, she stormed up the stairs and past the large wooden doors of the mayor’s office, slamming them shut behind her. 

It must have startled Regina because she jolted, and her pen slid uncontrollably across whatever paper she had been working on. 

Swearing under her breath, she looked up at Mary Margaret, eyes dark and angry. 

“Can I help you Miss Blanchard?” 

“I doubt it.”

“Oh?”

“Do you ever help anyone but yourself?”

“It seems you misunderstand my job description.”

Regina spoke in a humorless tone matched only by the look of bored irritation on her face. 

Walking up to the mayor’s desk, she placed her palms flat against the smooth marble and leaned forward. 

“I know you’re sleeping with Sheriff Graham.”

This seemed to get her attention, and Mary Margaret felt a flicker of pride at eliciting a reaction. But as quick as her surprise had shown it disappeared, and Regina’s expression hardened. 

“We don’t do much sleeping dear, but I don’t see how that’s any of your business regardless.”

Mary Margaret’s jaw tightened. 

“It’s not appropriate. You think you can just do whatever you want and get away with it. Well you can’t, Regina. There are consequences for your actions, and this level of scandal-”

Words poured out of her, flooding the space between them. Issues she’d thought but never spoken aloud, feelings she never knew she had, came rushing out and Mary Margret couldn’t seem to stop them, so caught up in the surge.

Regina at least had the decency to look taken aback.

But then she leaned back in her chair, a cool smile spreading over her face.

“It may be more appropriate to lodge these concerns as a formal complaint, dear.”

She sneered.

“I can get you a form and then you can be on your way.”

Mary Margaret stood stiffly as she caught her breath. This wasn’t going how she wanted it to. She’d wanted Regina to be angry, to fight back. But she was cool as ever, unaffected what had been said, unaffected by Mary Margaret herself. 

Still breathing deeply, she watched as Regina rifled through a filing cabinet before finding what she was looking for. Then, instead of handing it to Mary Margaret she walked around to the front of her desk.

“Here you are, Miss Blanchard. Rest assured, I take these complaints very seriously. So there’s no need for you to come here again.”

“That’s it? You’re dismissing me, and your and Graham’s dalliances are just going to continue?”

“Miss Blanchard, if I didn’t know any better I would say you were jealous.”

Mary Margaret stopped then. Her mouth opening and closing eyes blinking rapidly as the mayor’s words hit her. 

“Jealous…” she almost whispered.

_Oh._

“No need dear, really. If you have an eye for the sheriff that’s none of my concern, and last I heard you were both available. Unless you want to count your standing date with the coma patient?” She smirked at her own joke, which would have put Mary Margaret on edge at any other moment, but her mind was on something else. 

_Jealous._

She had been jealous, was jealous. Only it just wasn’t Regina she was jealous of. She thought back to the diner, how Graham had said something that made Regina smile, a full toothy smile. She remembered how he had held her hand and whispered into her ear while she looked at him with hooded eyes. It wasn’t their lack of subtlety or the potential conflict of interest that might arise out of an affair between the mayor and the local sheriff. 

She wanted Regina to look at her that way. She wanted Regina to meet her with smiles and jokes instead of insults and glares. She thought how much she had grown under Regina’s hatred, and for the first time acknowledged a thought that she had tried to ignore. 

_How much more could I grow with not her hatred, but her love._

And even more terrifying.

_How much might **she** grow with mine._

Mary Margaret swallowed hard. She had been jealous, jealous of Graham. Even when she had gone to the mansion to see Regina and realized she had _company_ , her chest had tightened and cheeks flushed. She thought it had been anger and embarrassment, and in part it had. It just wasn’t a reaction sparked by indignation.

And looking at her now, the black of her dress, of her hair - made somehow blacker by the light from the window behind her - Mary Margaret’s heart seized. So, before her dark lips could shift from their still self amused smile and start to shape around another cruelty Mary Margaret took a fast step forward. 

Pushing Regina back against her desk, she leaned in and kissed her. Though the mayor tensed, not returning it, Mary Margaret didn’t stop. She needed this. Something in her was drawn to this woman. Petty spats, mean spirited comments, and unacknowledged tension weren’t enough anymore. Pressing further into her, she gripped at the mayor’s hips and ran her tongue along her lower lip, finally prompting Regina to kiss back.

The kiss was clumsy and desperate as Mary Margaret pulled on Regina’s hips, her waist, her back, trying to bring her closer. But then Regina gripped on her upper arms, her painted nails digging into the hard muscle of Mary Margaret’s bicep. With a quick tug, she tried to maneuver her so their positions would be reversed. Mary Margaret though, held her ground. 

Through their still unbroken kiss, she grabbed the back of the mayor’s thighs, just below the dark hem of her dress, and lifted her up onto the desk. Fitting herself quick between Regina’s thighs, she let her fingers spread out and glide over bare skin, up and under the black fabric of her dress. 

But as her fingers grazed a lace edge, Regina pushed her roughly back. They were still close though. Mary Margaret’s hips still pressed tight between Regina’s legs. Their quickened breathing still mingled. 

In that moment, she scanned the mayor’s face seeing every bit of anger and hate that Regina had tried to disguise. She saw every bit of beauty that she had tried to ignore. Then, she saw something else as Regina’s face broke into a sultry smirk. 

“Remember dear when this is done, that _you_ were the one to come to _me_.”   
  
She moistened her lips as she spoke, and Mary Margaret nodded before pulling them back together in a kiss that burned like fire. 

And the fire spread as the kiss grew sharp and bruising. Regina bit along the pale column of Mary Margaret’s neck. Her hands moving hastily to undo the buttons of her blouse so she could stroke and massage the snow white skin as it was exposed. 

Arching into her touch, Mary Margaret rolled her hips forward against the growing wet spot between Regina’s legs. Her head was spinning, heady with the feeling of their bodies pressed together, of skin against skin. 

Then, wanting more of that feeling, she reached behind Regina pulling the zipper of her dress down hard and fast enough to warp the seam. As the straps slid off, the mayor was left sitting on her desk - dress bunched at her hips and fallen from her shoulders. Mary Margaret’s mouth went dry as she took in the full curve of Regina’s breasts and the smooth skin of her stomach - both framed by the black lace of her bra. 

“What’s wrong, dear? Haven’t you got me right where you want me?”

Her chest rose and fell as she spoke, and her voice had taken on a low breathy quality that hit Mary Margaret with a jolt of electricity, pulsing through her body. 

But there was that whisper again, that hidden meaning in her words. And Mary Margaret was hit with another wave of something - but this was painful and bone deep and smelling of blood and pine. 

This was what she had wanted though since Regina’s attention had first landed on her cruel and callous as it may have been. And though she did not understand the full meaning in the things Regina said to her, she did know there was still truth in them. 

This at least was a change, different and maybe even better than anything they’d had before. 

So Mary Margaret leaned in, kissing her just as hard and desperate as the last one. 

At the same time, her hand worked its way between them, sliding up Regina’s thigh, past the thin lace of her underwear, and pressing two fingers inside her. 

Regina gasped into Mary Margaret’s mouth at the feeling.

Using her thumb to brush against the mayor’s clit, she curved her fingers firm and steady, trying to find a rhythm that would have her hips buck and shaking. 

As she pressed closer, steadily moving faster and harder, she dropped her head to suck along Regina’s neck, her collarbone, the tops of her breasts. From this position she could feel the mayor breathing hot against her ear - where it hitched and where it quickened. Mary Margaret’s legs trembled, even as Regina’s legs spread a little wider. Then, letting the her free hand glide down, she ran her fingertips along the ridges of the mayor’s knuckles - white, as she gripped the edge of her desk. 

When she came with a shudder and a gasp, Mary Margaret lingered. She watched Regina’s eyes flutter open and closed, the way her dark lips fell open as her head rolled back. Her chest tightened at the sight of it. 

Finally stepping back, she slowly let her hand drift out from its place between Regina’s legs. She swore she felt a final spasm as she did. 

But Regina’s face, though flushed, was suddenly schooled and calm. She stood, smoothing her dress as she pulled it back up over her shoulders. And though her hair was still disheveled and her lipstick slightly smudged, her voice was impossibly collected as she looked up at Mary Margaret and spoke;

“You should go, dear. I’d hate to deprive the students of Storybrooke even one hour of your,” she paused “ _excellent teaching_.”

“There’s no school today,” Mary Margaret said, her shirt still unbuttoned and her hands hanging limply at her sides still tingling with the feel of Regina’s skin, her wetness. 

“Hmm, well lucky for you. I’d hate for you to get written up. Still, it’s time for you to leave.”

Mary Margaret’s teeth ground together.

“So that’s it? You’re kicking me out? Nothing’s going to change?”

“I don’t believe that’s what I said,” Regina’s eyes sparked, narrowing in on Mary Margaret and pinning her where she stood. “Besides, did you expect I’d invite you to stay?” Her gaze moved to the black ticking clock hanging on the opposite wall, “It’s a bit late for breakfast in any case.”

There was a smirk on her face, threatening to break into laughter. And it almost did just that as Mary Margaret felt the surge of strength she craved and asked;

“So, should I expect one of your ‘surprise’ visits in my class tomorrow.”

She smiled and Regina returned it, full and toothy. _Though_ , Mary Margaret thought, there was decidedly something _unsettled_ about it. But the thought vanished as Regina stepped closer, reaching out to brush a dark strand of hair from Mary Margaret’s face. 

“I suppose you’ll appear on my front porch if I don’t?”

Then her hand drifted down, and she grabbed the collar of Mary Margaret’s blouse pulling her into another kiss - hard and possessive and burning, even as the fire of anger faded from it. 

And in that kiss there was something new, a promise perhaps of something growing between them. Though Mary Margaret did not know what shape it would take - what size, and flavor, and feeling. Though she did not know what repercussions it might bring…

She felt steady in her skin as Regina pushed closer to her, and she was glad for that alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my beta for helping me get this to a completed state. 
> 
> Comments and reviews are always welcome and appreciated!


End file.
